Leader Wire Alternatives Compared

When making up a wire leader, your choice of leader wire type is worth careful thought. After all, wire leaders of any kind are something of a necessary evil as, compared to mono leaders, they're more visible to fish and more awkward to connect to other components of your gear.

But fish equipped with a set of sharp teeth will make short work of nylon leaders, so wire is required for these critters - but which type of leader wire is the best one to use? Read on...

Wire leaders are made up from either ...

single-strand wire, or

multi-strand wire

Generally speaking, single-strand wire will have the greatest resistance to being bitten through and will be of smaller diameter (and therefore less visible) than multi-strand wire of an equivalent breaking strain.

But single-strand wire is prone to kinking, which can lead to general disappointment all round.

On the other hand, multi-strand wire (cable) is more flexible and much less prone to kinking - but it is thicker and consequently more visible than single-strand leader wire of equivalent breaking strain.

So here they all are, and for a summary of the pros and cons of each leader type take a look at the table at the foot of the page.

Single-Strand Wire

There are four types of single-strand wire leaders:~

1 - Piano Wire

One of the earliest types of leader wire, this tinned or galvanised carbon steel material is not used much these days, mainly because of its poor corrosion resistance.

2 - Stainless Wire

An improvement over piano wire, both in terms of flexibility and resistance to corrosion, and it's inexpensive.